Excelling in Graduate School

Almost all graduate students encounter numerous transitional issues during their start into graduate school. These transitional issues are particularly challenging because the skills needed to overcome these obstacles are often not explicitly addressed.

During the fall quarter of our CLIMB curriculum for first-year students, we speak openly about these issues. The open discussion provides an opportunity for students to help one another, realize that they often already have strengths to contribute to our CLIMB community, and understand that they are not alone in their challenges.

Click below to download pdf files of PowerPoint presentations on these topics:

These workshops deal with your relationship with your research mentor (or PI), which is your most important relationship in grad school. We introduce the concept of "mentoring up", where you as the mentee proactively manage the relationship with your research mentor. The links below provide pdf files of the slides and case studies that were used in these workshops.

In today’s changing and challenging market for PhD’s in the STEM disciplines, it’s critical to start planning your career early, because the road to “alternative” and even “traditional” careers are no longer clearly marked out for you. This series of professional development workshops will help you to assess your professional skills and interests, and help you explore options now while you’re in grad school, for your career after your PhD.